The Stunning Salary Budgets of the Top 5 LCK Teams and Faker
For most fans of Esports teams in general and fans of top teams or legendary players like Faker in particular, one highly anticipated topic is the income that players can earn annually, as well as the salary budgets of the teams. This not only shows the scale of a team but also demonstrates the influence of the players compared to the rest of the team as well as the League of Legends scene. Recently, South Korean media reported on the salary budgets of the top 5 teams in LCK, including T1, Gen.G, Dplus KIA, Hanwha Life Esports, and KT Rolster.
Accordingly, the highest salary budgets belong to HLE and T1. However, there are no exact figures for these teams, and LCK sources also indicate that the salary budgets of T1 and HLE are around 10 million USD (approximately over 245 billion VND). Among them, according to LCK sources, Faker’s salary alone is the highest on the team and is estimated to be around 5 million USD (approximately over 122 billion VND). The team ranked third is Gen.G with a salary budget of 5.3 – 6 million USD, with Canyon being the highest-paid player. Ranked fourth is DK with about 4.5 million USD, while the lowest is KT at only about 2.3 million USD.
Thus, Faker’s salary alone is nearly equal to the entire salary budget of Gen.G and is more than double when compared to KT. This may shock many viewers, but it is completely understandable as information about Faker’s salary has been partially revealed for a long time. The only surprise is that teams like KT, Gen.G, or DK have such relatively low salary budgets.
But it also poses many challenges for top teams like T1 or HLE
A high salary budget will force teams to adopt other methods to ensure profitability for the collective. Aside from revenue sources such as sponsors, merch, or advertising contracts, teams must also achieve high results. T1, after winning the 2023 Worlds and with their past achievements and Faker’s influence, still manages to keep this in check. However, some teams like HLE or even Gen.G will face difficulties.
Gen.G must be victorious at the 2024 Worlds, and the same goes for HLE as they have very expensive rosters. In fact, Gen.G hasn’t even offered long-term contracts to players like Kiin or Canyon. Meanwhile, according to many community predictions, Peyz may still be under the rookie contract. Therefore, Gen.G could potentially cut a significant amount from the salary of this 2005-born AD carry.
Without good results, along with a lack of increased influence and consequently profits for the team, top “star-studded” teams like HLE or Gen.G will almost certainly face danger. At that point, the concept of “star-studded rosters” could completely disappear, potentially dragging these teams back down to the lower end of the standings, just as they had previously experienced.